On Kelly’s calendar the players assemble July 25th for their second training camp at the NovaCare Complex.

“They take their notes and those things home with them and they’re just expected when they get back here in 35 days to be prepared for when we go,” Kelly said. “It’s not like we give them a test when they get back or there’s homework assignments or anything like that when they take off.”

The unwritten pass-fail test undertaken by players is a combination of staying in shape and staying out of trouble. The coaches have challenged players to stay out of the headlines.

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Then again, Kelly is such a fan of trouble-free players his staff can merely say keep doing what you’re doing.

“That’s a real big, important thing to us,” Kelly said. “I don’t want a bunch of guys I have to worry about when we’re away, that I’ve got to worry about how they’re supposed to behave. They understand anything they do has ramifications whether it’s positive or negative. And they’ve got to understand how it affects not only themselves but how it affects the team.”

The Eagles are coming off their first NFC East title and their first winning season in three seasons. Without putting a number on it, the players quietly believe they’re better than the squad coming off a 10-6 record. Kelly also gets the feeling the guys are anything but satisfied.

“I don’t look at this as any break from what we’ve just done,” Kelly said. “This is our life’s choice and we enjoy it. This isn’t like Fred Flintstone and ‘yabba-dabba-do’ and we’re trying to get out of work. It’s another day. And we’ll finish with some different things before we get some time off. I don’t think anybody in our situation as coaches is like, ‘I can’t wait to get out of there.’ Most are like, ‘I can’t wait to get back in there.’”

NOTES

The evaluations of quarterbacks Mark Sanchez and Matt Barkley won’t mean much until the preseason games primarily because that’s when the defense not only rushes, but hits the passer. “They have a good grasp of what we’re doing,” Kelly said. “They’ve got an understanding of what we’re doing. I’ve seen improvement from them in these drills. But you’re not going to find out until you put them in a game.” From this vantage point, Sanchez and Barkley have far less arm strength and command throwing the ball than starter Nick Foles … Speaking of Foles, it’s pretty clear from practices the Eagles are his team. The way Foles lined up his teammates during practices, it was almost a flashback to last summer at the NovaCare Complex when Tom Brady was getting a young group of Patriots skills players on the same page … Speaking of Eagles-Patriots, Kelly confirmed the Birds will practice jointly with the Pats in Foxboro, Mass., before the Aug. 15th preseason game at Gillette Stadium. Last year the Patriots worked with the Eagles before their preseason contest.